Northants to return home from Singapore due to COVID-19 pandemic

The club is the last of the 18 counties to announce the end of their trip abroad. The decision was a joint move between officials and the playing squad

Northamptonshire are to return early from their pre-season tour of Singapore in light of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

The club is the last of the 18 counties to announce the end of their trip abroad. The decision was a joint move between Northants officials and the playing squad.

The squad will now fly back to the UK on rearranged flights, a few days before the tour was initially due to come to an end on March 20. They flew out to Asia on March 9.

Northamptonshire chief executive Ray Payne explained: “It’s important to understand that this isn’t a case of us wanting to get the first available flight out of Singapore.

“It’s about the worsening situation at home and people being concerned about their families and wanting to be with them.

“It’s a very safe environment here but it’s understandable, there’s a lot of players with young families in our squad and right now that’s what’s most important.”

How county pre-season plans have been affected by COVID-19

He added: “Singapore Cricket Club have been a great host. The precautions they’ve taken here are amazing, their hospitality, facilities and how SCC have looked after us is just incredible.

“We’re all pretty dispirited to be leaving actually but we believe it’s the right decision. We’re looking forward to returning next year.”

They were due to face Nottinghamshire in a three-day warm-up match from March 31 at Trent Bridge, but Peter Moores' side have removed the match from their schedule as a result of Northants’ trip to Singapore. To date, the country has reported a total of 243 cases of the virus.